No. 22 UConn entered Thursday’s game at No. 7 Cincinnati shorthanded, with junior forward and second-leading scorer and rebounder DeAndre Daniels ruled out due to a case of back spasms. Without Daniels, and with the Bearcats among the nation’s best when it comes to offensive rebounding, at first glance it seemed as if rebounding would be the Huskies’ biggest concern against the American Athletic Conference’s best team.

Ultimately UConn’s problem would be their work on the offensive end of the floor, as their second-half struggles were a big reason why they dropped a 63-58 decision.

Cincinnati’s impressive senior tandem of Sean Kilpatrick (26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists) and Justin Jackson (15 points, six rebounds) were the biggest factors in the outcome, but the Bearcats’ defense was also an issue for UConn. After shooting 46.2% in the first half UConn made just 32.0% of its shots in the second half, settling far too often for challenged looks from the perimeter.

Senior point guard Shabazz Napier struggled the most in the second half, making just two of his 12 attempts from the field (1-for-8 3PT). Obviously Napier will be the primary decision-maker for Kevin Ollie and to be frank he’s earned that right over the last season-plus, leading the team as a scorer while also being a solid distributor. However the balanced shot distribution that was present in the first half wasn’t there in the second, with no other Husky attempting more than five shots (Lasan Kromah).

In the first half the Huskies were balanced in their shot distribution, with four players attempting between four and seven shots from the field and each of those four players (Napier, Kromah, Ryan Boatright and Niels Giffey) scoring at least six points. UConn has a clear star in Napier and that’s perfectly fine, but in order for the Huskies to be at their best they need to make sure the other scoring options get the ball in advantageous positions as well.

At this point in the season it’s clear that UConn will be a tournament team, and they’ll be better when Daniels returns to full strength. Having one less scoring option impacted UConn in the second half on Thursday night, leaving them with one less player to trust when it came to taking the shots. Cincinnati’s a very good defensive team, and their ability to choke the life out of teams on that end of the floor has resulted in a 15-game win streak.

But to be fair UConn helped them out some on Thursday with their second-half execution, and that’s something the Huskies can’t afford to do as the season moves closer to March.

It was an enormous win for the Huskies, who were coming off of losses to Stanford, SMU and Houston in the last month. There were doubts about whether or not this was a team that could compete with the other top dogs in the American, but those were put to rest on Thursday night.

What’s more is that this is a solid resume win for the Huskies, who weren’t necessarily in danger of missing out on an at-large bid just yet. That home win over Florida and the neutral court win over Indiana are only going to look better and better as the year goes on. Having said that, their recent losses were certainly concerning enough to make some question whether or not the Huskies are actually as good as their resume appears.

And frankly, there are nights where they aren’t all that good.

When it comes down to it, there are two things that the Huskies are going to need to do to win:

Their bigs have to show up and compete in the paint, and they did that on Thursday. Daniels was terrific and while Amida Brimah didn’t have his best game, he played well enough — as did Tyler Olander and Phil Nolan — that the Huskies basically controlled the interior for the first 32 minutes of the game. UConn’s front court is never going to be a strength, but they have to play well enough that they are not a liability.

UConn needs scoring from someone other than Napier. It doesn’t matter who it is. Daniels had 23 on Thursday while Lasan Kromah chipped in with 11. Brimah had 20 in a win over Central Florida. Ryan Boatright can pop off for 20 on any given night. Niels Giffey is capable of hitting three or four threes. Napier is as good of a closer as their is in college basketball, but he can lead and he can facilitate. He wants to get his teammates involved. They have to reward his efforts.

If that happens, Napier is good enough that he can lead the Huskies to wins over just about anyone. On Thursday, you saw proof of that.

As an aside, the American is shaping up to be one of the weirdest conference races in the country. UConn got swept on their trip to Texas but won at Memphis, which Cincinnati did as well. Memphis, in turn, went into Louisville and knocked off a Cardinal team that has looked like they’ve hit their stride in the last couple of weeks. When it comes to conference races, weird almost always equates to fun. So buckle up.

They’ll be good because …: UConn is coming off of a 20 win season where they went 10-8 in the Big East and would have earned themselves a bid to the NCAA tournament if it wasn’t for an APR-induced postseason ban. Everyone of note from that team is back for UConn’s first season in the AAC, with one exception: instead of having Holy Cross transfer R.J. Evans as their first guard off the bench, Kevin Ollie will now be able to use fifth-year senior Lasan Kromah, a veteran that averaged double-figures over his three year career at George Washington.

If that’s not enough, than you should take note of the back court that Ollie returns, which will be one of the best in the country. Shabazz Napier is one of the nation’s most underrated point guards, and while Ryan Boatright has a tendency to get a bit out of control, he’s still an absurdly talented guard that can go off for 20 on any given night. Add in sophomore Omar Calhoun, and UConn’s perimeter will be small but quite difficult to match up with.

AP photo

But they might disappoint because …: The Huskies just don’t have much size on the interior to take note of. Senior Tyler Olander is back, but he averaged all of 4.3 points and 3.7 boards as a junior. Deandre Daniels is a really talented 6-foot-8 forward, but he’s much better suited to playing as a three than he is on being relied upon to mix it up in the paint. Phil Nolan is a skinny sophomore. Kentan Facey is a skinny freshman. Leon Tolksdorf wants to shoot threes. There just aren’t that many big bodies up front.

Who matches up with Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell? Who in that lineup can slow down Shaq Goodwin of Memphis? SMU and Houston both have a couple of capable big men. The Huskies have enough talent to make a run at winning the conference, but that’s assuming that someone on this team can find a way to become a presence in the paint.

Outlook: UConn may have one of the best perimeter attacks in the country, but I don’t think that it’s crazy to say that they have the third-best set of guards in the AAC. That’s what happens when you play in the same conference as Louisville and Memphis. What that means is that the Huskies’ major advantage, their ability to spread the floor and create mismatches, will be negated against the league’s other two contenders. With the sizable disadvantage that UConn will have in the paint, it’s tough to see the Huskies being able to make a push for the AAC title.

Having said that, Memphis and Louisville are two of just a handful of teams against whom UConn won’t be able to take advantage of their back court talent. So while I think that it is a long shot the Huskies will win the conference, I still think this is a team that can win 25 games and, potentially, make a run in the tournament if they get the right matchups.